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Qualcomm Grows Where Others Can't

Written by: Richard Saintvilus11/12/12 - 9:39 AM EST

Tickers in this article:
QCOM

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- In what has been a tough semiconductor market, Qualcomm (QCOM) has continued to confound the skeptics who had rushed to proclaim the end of the chipmaker's growth story.

Other chipmakers, such as Intel (INTC) , NVIDIA (NVDA) and Texas Instruments (TXN) , have been hurt by (among other things) weak demand, but on Wednesday Qualcomm beat estimates for revenue and earnings.

It also did what few rivals have been able to do: raise guidance.

A Great End to a Good Fiscal Year

For its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Qualcomm's profits surged 20% to $1.27 billion, or 73 cents a share, exceeding year-earlier results of $1.06 billion, or 62 cents a share. Results were boosted by an increase in smartphone shipments.

Excluding special items, the company reported EPS of 89, easily topping analysts' estimates of 82 cents.

Revenue was equally impressive, soaring 18% year over year to $4.87 billion, ahead of analysts' estimates of $4.67 billion. The company said that chip shipments reached 141 million, a 1% year-over-year increase.

Qualcomm ended the fiscal year with profits of $6.11 billion, or $3.51 per share. That's annual growth of 43%. Likewise, fiscal-year revenue of $19.1 billion was good enough to top fiscal 2011's by almost 30%.

The company was able to find growth while the sector as a whole suffered hardships as a result of weak demand.

Nevertheless, investors were still looking for confirmation that this story wouldn't change going forward, and in this regard Qualcomm also delivered.

For its first fiscal quarter, Qualcomm expects GAAP EPS of 90 cents to 98 and adjusted EPS of $1.08 to $1.16. The adjusted EPS range would mark a year-over-year increase of 11% to 20%. Revenue is seen coming in at $5.6 billion to $6.1 billion. The top range of the revenue guidance exceeded analysts' existing estimates by more than 13%. Management said the company is positioned for exceptional growth in the double-digit range.

Moving Forward

Qualcomm continues to affirm why it has not only one of the best businesses in the entire market, but also one of the best management teams.

The company understands what its goals are and has a pathway for achieving them. Remarkably, the company is able to do this as rivals are tugging at the chip market and trying to steal share. But as the company's management suggested, Qualcomm's market position is currently unlike any other.

Rivals will find it pretty challenging (if not) impossible to make a meaningful dent in this business, especially as Qualcomm continues to reinvest in R&D to ensure that its chip technology remains the top choice among these phone rivals.